Valve component for faucet
View Patent ↗A valve component for a faucet includes a substrate comprising a base material and a strengthening layer provided above the substrate in an amount sufficient to improve abrasion resistance of the substrate, the strengthening layer comprising tantalum. A layer including amorphous diamond is provided above the strengthening layer. The amorphous diamond has sp 3 bonding of at least about 40%, a hardness of at least about 45 GPa, and an elastic modulus of at least about 400 GPa.
1. A valve component for a faucet comprising:
a substrate for the valve component comprising a base material;
a strengthening layer provided above the substrate in an amount sufficient to improve abrasion resistance of the substrate, the strengthening layer comprising tantalum; and
a layer comprising amorphous diamond provided above the strengthening layer, the amorphous diamond having sp 3 bonding of at least about 40%, a hardness of at least about 45 GPa, and an elastic modulus of at least about 400 GPa.
2. The valve component of claim 1 , wherein the layer of amorphous diamond has a coefficient of friction that is lower than that of diamond-like carbon and a hardness that is higher than that of diamond-like carbon.
3. The valve component of claim 1 , wherein the strengthening layer comprises tantalum nitride.
4. The valve component of claim 1 , wherein the strengthening layer comprises tantalum carbide.
5. The valve component of claim 4 , wherein the strengthening layer comprises tantalum carbo-nitride.
6. The valve component of claim 1 , wherein the strengthening layer has a hardness that is greater than that of the substrate.
7. The valve component of claim 1 , wherein the substrate comprises a material selected from the group consisting of stainless steel, aluminum, brass, titanium, zirconium, a glass, a cermet, a ceramic, a glass containing material, a polymeric material, and a composite material.
8. The valve component of claim 1 , wherein the substrate comprises alumina.
9. The valve component of claim 1 , wherein the layer comprising amorphous diamond has a thickness less than about 10 microns.
10. The valve component of claim 1 , further comprising an adhesion-promoting layer provided between the first and second layers of material.
11. A faucet comprising:
a first valve plate comprising a base material;
a strengthening layer provided above the base material, the strengthening layer comprising at least one material selected from the group consisting of tantalum carbide, tantalum nitride, and tantalum carbo-nitride; and
an amorphous diamond material provided above the strengthening layer, the amorphous diamond material having a coefficient of friction that is lower than that of diamond-like carbon and has a hardness that is greater than that of diamond-like carbon.
12. The faucet of claim 11 , wherein the amorphous diamond material consists essentially of carbon and has sp 3 bonding of at least about 40%, a hardness of at least about 45 GPa, and an elastic modulus of greater than about 400 GPa.
13. The faucet of claim 11 , wherein strengthening layer comprises tantalum carbide.
14. The faucet of claim 11 , wherein the strengthening layer comprises tantalum nitride.
15. The faucet of claim 11 , wherein the base material is selected from the group consisting of stainless steel, aluminum, brass, titanium, zirconium, a glass, a cermet, a glass containing material, a polymeric material, and a composite material.
16. The faucet of claim 15 , wherein the base material comprises alumina.
17. The faucet of claim 11 , wherein the amorphous diamond material has a thickness less than about 10 microns.
18. The faucet of claim 11 , further comprising an layer of material provided between the strengthening layer and the amorphous diamond material.
19. The faucet of claim 18 , wherein the layer of material provided between the strengthening layer and the amorphous diamond material comprises tantalum.
20. The faucet of claim 11 , further comprising a second valve plate comprising an amorphous diamond material provided thereon, the second valve plate provided in contact with the first valve plate.
21. A faucet valve plate comprising:
a substrate;
a layer of material comprising tantalum provided above the substrate; and
a carbon layer provided above the layer of material comprising tantalum, the carbon layer having a hardness that is greater than that of diamond-like carbon and sp 3 bonding of at least about 40%.
22. The faucet valve plate of claim 21 , wherein the carbon layer has a hardness of at least about 45 GPa and an elastic modulus of at least about 400 GPa.
23. The faucet valve plate of claim 21 , wherein the carbon layer has a friction coefficient that is lower than that of diamond-like carbon.
24. The faucet valve plate of claim 21 , wherein the substrate comprises at least one of a sintered ceramic and a metal.
25. The faucet valve plate of claim 21 , wherein the layer of material comprising tantalum comprises tantalum nitride.
26. The faucet valve plate of claim 21 , wherein the layer of material comprising tantalum comprises tantalum carbide.
27. The faucet valve plate of claim 21 , wherein the layer of material comprising tantalum comprises tantalum carbo-nitride.
28. The faucet valve plate of claim 21 , wherein the substrate comprises a material selected from the group consisting of stainless steel, aluminum, brass, and alumina.
29. The faucet valve plate of claim 21 , wherein the thickness of the layer of material is between approximately 2000 nm and 5000 nm.
30. The faucet valve plate of claim 21 , further comprising an adhesion-promoting layer provided in contact with the substrate and comprising tantalum.